Minerals The Age of Discovery

In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a great deal of interest in mineralogy.

Some collectors travelled all over the world searching for rare and impressive specimens to add to their collections. Many were attracted to Cornwall because of the great number of mines and the remarkable variety of minerals they produced.

Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Pat Comber

Amethyst (SiO2)

Amethyst has been used for thousands of years to make jewellery and is still a popular gemstone.

Re my previous comment - I should have said azurite is copper carbonate! Now we've both been wrong!
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GEEVOR REPLY: Thank you for pointing our typing error out to us Peter, we have now amended it above.

Comment left by TT on 2012-05-16 16:16:22

Hi, I have a quartz like the picture Sio2 above and am cleaning it with iron out. It is from Arkansas.